“I am driven by a bit of history and the fact that my old man started this business," the Nine chief told The Weekend Financial Review two days after striking a $2.3 billion deal to hand over the company to a group of hedge funds.

“And I looked up to Kerry Packer and I learnt a lot about television from him. And that drove me to say, ‘this doesn’t deserve to go into receivership.’ "

It has been a dramatic week for Mr Gyngell, who celebrated his 47th birthday with a surf at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Friday morning. He played a critical role in the negotiations that transformed the iconic company from debt-laden to debt-free. Meanwhile, his wife, Nine presenter Leila McKinnon, gave birth to their first child, Ted, just hours before the deal to save Nine was officially agreed.

Debt-free Nine is eyeing acquisitions

After more than a year of uncertainty, lenders, led by US hedge funds Oaktree Capital and Apollo Global Management, finally struck a deal to take control of the Australian media business on Wednesday.

Company Profile

He hit back on Friday at new
Seven West Media
boss
Don Voelte
, who said he would not want to work for private equity or hedge fund owners because they had high expectations of profitability and could be “restrictive".

‘I understand media and he doesn’t’

“I thank Don for his advice and I also have worked for hedge funds and private equity for five years so I know what they are like. But I understand media and he doesn’t, so I think I have got a bit of an advantage over him. Instead of giving me advice, I’d be learning how television and media works," Mr Gyngell said.

He said in a memo to staff that Nine was now in the “strongest imaginable position". He is optimistic about the advertising market, saying the downturn was not structural.

“We have had 18 or 19 consecutive months of advertising revenues going down. I don’t believe it’s not going to grow and not have a ‘pop’ period," he said. Along with chairman Peter Bush and other senior management, Mr Gyngell is expected to receive equity under the new owners. “If I don’t like the people, I won’t work there for very long; if I like the people, I will work there forever," he said.

The Future Fund-backed Oaktree and Apollo will emerge with more than a third of the company that owns free-to-air television stations, ticketing group Ticketek, Allphones Arena and half of online business Mi9. They are likely to add around $500 million of debt to its balance sheet. Goldman Sachs, which owned most of the $1 billion owed to second-tier lenders, will receive about 4 per cent. Private equity group CVC Asia Pacific, which paid James Packer $5.6 billion for Nine in 2006-2008, has all but lost its entire investment.